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Dogmatism and the OD Consultant

Robert Crosby takes a fresh look at dogmatism manifested in OD consulting.

How strongly do you hold your beliefs?

Dogmatism abounds and is on the rise all across the world, can be insidiously present in each of us whether coming from a liberal or conservative perspective.

It exists as much from the left as from the right. In 2006 I wrote “Get Unstuck From Fundamentalism” in which I examine how any dogma is dangerous.

In this session we will begin with a short self-administered questionnaire to help focus on our own tendencies. These questions are derived from the classic work of Milton Rokeach.

Then we will explore what it all means and how to get beyond dogma to ensure effective work as an OD professional!

I was, for 29 years, a mentee of Kurt Lewin’s student, Ronald Lippitt. I will share illustrations of dogmatism in organizations including the way some consultants use data.

About Your Presenter

Robert P. Crosby, L.H.D. turned 90 years old on July 1 and is still active. He won a lifetime achievement award from the OD Network in 2016. He has 60 plus years of experience helping organizations get clear about effective leadership, alignment, teamwork, change management, task accomplishment and accountability. He is a master in his field, having founded the Leadership Institute of Seattle (LIOS) in 1969, and held faculty roles through LIOS contracts at universities such as Antioch in Seattle and Martin University (named after Martin Luther King Jr.) in Indianapolis, Indiana. LIOS became the first Masters program in Organization Development in 1973. In 1991 he created a corporate (Masters) leadership program to train leaders internal to Alcoa. Three of the plants participating were located in Addy (WA), Knoxville (Tn) and Evansville (In). All three of them were failing prior to the program and by 1994 Knoxville and Evansville created one third of the world wide profits for Alcoa. He has led T-Groups in six countries. He has published several business books including The Cross-Functional Workplace, Walking the Empowerment Tightrope, and most recently Cultural Change in Organizations. In the current annual Jossey-Bass book on Organization Development, Robert has co-authored an Article with Matthew Minahan of American University called, “The Classic T-Group.” His forth coming book is on T-Groups.